Because He Loves Her
by When the Sun Rises
Summary: A story of a young coordinator stricken by love, and how this love changes him. A Contestshipping one-shot


I binge-watched Contestshipping AMVs on YouTube for inspiration while working on the next chapter of The Vampire's Bride. "Contestshipping Day 2016!" by XxShuukaraxX made me giddy, and this story was born. I realized I haven't written many Drew-centric stories so am very glad to make up for it today.

Happy New Year, everyone!

* * *

Drew thought he would never have a crush on someone. He was a strong, mature, eleven-year-old with big dreams. He wasn't going to lose focus because of a _girl_.

But then he met her.

 _May_.

She seemed harmless at first. She and her friends were stupid enough to loiter a private beach, but were nothing a good scolding from security couldn't handle. Then she and her beautifly started playing with frisbees, and Drew thought he would pee himself. He had seen coordinators barely pass the appeal stage with lightning storms and fields of fire. This rookie thought she could win with _plastic toys_?

The only reason Drew made his way down to the girl was to put her in her place. He didn't do it because she was _cute_ or anything, and _definitely_ didn't keep taunting her because she got even cuter when she was mad. Nope! This was just a seasoned performer teasing the little leagues; and this cute brunette with an adorable bandana was _way_ out of his league.

But then he saw her again later that day looking for berries. He thought he'd be a hero when he caught them before solid earth did, but no. She just thanked him for his compliment and asked him to give back the berries.

 _Great_ , Drew mentally grumbled. He was _disappointed_ he didn't impress her. Oh! What about a battle? He could amaze her with his professional, sophisticated moves, and then put her in her place again! Who knows? Maybe she would end up sucking so bad, he'd lose interest. Then he would be free from whatever spell the girl was enchanting.

But a few minutes later, Rookie was kicking his ass. She didn't even lose to him and had a training montage first. She turned the tables around in the same battle...by calming down. It was infuriating and utterly _embarrassing_! But, also in a sick, twisted way, a little hot. This girl was filled with surprises!

But not all surprises were good, as it turned out, because their battle was cut short by three thieves on a meowth hot air balloon. Drew had never been so confused in his life, but one thing was for sure. His attempts to look cool got the berries stolen. It was only fair that he helped get them back.

And help her he did. Sure, it was the girl's torchic that physically retrieved the berries, but the girl still came up to thank him. Drew didn't expect to get nervous when she did, instigating that hair-flicking habit he had developed out of nervousness. Now that he thought about it, didn't he flick his hair twice before their battle started?

Oh. No. No, no, no, no.

The coordinator gave her one last taunt before speed-walking out of dodge. He needed to get himself together. He was a seasoned coordinator, for crying out loud! He had to focus on himself, only himself, and his pokémon. This cute rookie (he smacked himself at the word "cute") wasn't going to get into his head. Nu-huh. Nope! In fact, he wasn't just going to wipe the girl from his mind. He was going to keep his distance. A contest was a contest, and he was going to win it!

So Drew wisely stayed in the hallway when he saw the girl talking to her friends in the coordinator's lounge. That was good, he was doing well. But he didn't have to stand nearby to eavesdrop on their conversation. He also didn't have to stop by to cheer her on/see if she was awestruck by his dazzling performance. He also most definitely didn't have to watch her from the stage entrance. But this girl was hard to hook in! Yes, he realized he was trying to impress her again, but it wasn't fair for him to do all the work. _He_ could be hard to impress too!

No, not really. At least, not when May (oh perfect, he was calling her by her name now) was doing the impressing. Her eyes were hot and twinkling again, but the energy spread not only throughout the rest of her body, but her beautifly's as well.

Drew's jaw almost fell to the ground.

Okay, Drew composed himself before May's appeal ended. Keeping his distance was obviously not going to last more than a few seconds. He had so much...feelings inside, and they compelled him to do things he couldn't explain. They had to go, but how? How do you get rid of feelings?

Drew quickly dashed from the entrance as soon as May left the stage and, with _that_ much energy, made it all the way outside the side door. "Damn it," he cursed with his cheeks flushed. He had a crush, a crush on May. He swore he would never let it happen to him, even avoided all references from books and media to keep the _ideas_ off of him. But doing so might have screwed him over; because now that it inevitably happened, he had no idea what to do.

He took a deep breath and stared helplessly into space. Then he zeroed in on the red dots on the walls of the garden he stumbled into. His green eyes widened. Those weren't ordinary dots, he realized. They were roses.

Quickly, Drew made his way to the wall and plucked a flower. It was beautiful, and the color reminded him of May's bandanna. There were thorns on the stem that nearly pricked his thumb. But they didn't bother him. In a way, they also reminded him of May. She was beautiful (which he would admit when he was ready), but could also fight back when messed with. It represented her perfectly. And, if he was to go by his throbbing head and beating heart, what he felt for her too.

He was going to do it, Drew plucked the thorns out as he brought himself and the rose back inside the hall. He was going to give May the rose and...he didn't know. Compliment her, maybe? That always got him a "Thank You". If he didn't have her heart, he wanted to at least have her gratitude.

He definitely got it...and then freaked out. He didn't expect her to blush. And, though it shouldn't have surprised him, he hadn't expected it to be cute. So, the smooth casanova that he was, he bailed and said it was for Beautifly. It didn't make sense considering he had directly complimented her as he handed the rose. Fortunately, she was distracted by his following taunt to notice.

Drew ended up being May's opponent in the battle portion (he wasn't that surprised that she passed the appeals), and won. He felt sorry that she lost, especially when he spotted tears in her eyes. But a contest was a contest, he remembered. So he forced a smirk and left the stage.

But not without flicking his bangs.

At the end of the day, the male coordinator didn't have much to be satisfied with. He had never taken losses well, so losing the contest put a damper in his mood. He also lost in front of May, his recently-established crush, which was a blow to his pride. And to add salt to the wound, he might never see May again. It was common for new coordinators to give up after their first loss. Not everyone could handle failing in front of a crowd of people. If Drew, someone who had been a coordinator for almost a year, still hadn't gotten used to it, how could May?

But May, like she had many times in the short time he'd known her, surprised him once more. Right before he exited the building, she called out to him with her cheery, happy-go-lucky voice and said she wouldn't be the loser next time. It completely caught him off-guard. He almost cried the first time he lost a contest and took a break before deciding to go on. But there May was, glowing like she had won the damn thing. He was almost envious.

But she had enough determination to fill the both of them, so he got pumped too. He would get stronger, he told her, but that wasn't why he smiled. She said "next time".

Now he was excited for two reasons.

~.~

Drew thought he would never fall in love. Nothing was more distracting than love. Nothing. So he chose not to partake in it.

But a year passed since he had met May. True to his promise, he became a formidable rival and, hopefully, stirred a crush in her for him as well. How many roses had he given her? Surely she would have caught on by now.

But she hadn't, apparently. According to May herself in the Hoenn Grand Festival, he wasn't even her friend. He had proven her wrong, of course, by calling out Harley, the man that stabbed her in the back but was apparently more of a friend to her than Drew was. But that brought another question for him, something he took with him to his contest season in Kanto. What exactly was he to her?

Drew met her again in Chrysanthemum Island, where she accused him of sending a rose to her with a nameless card. He smugly corrected her by saying he didn't send roses that way. Then he mentally smacked himself when he implied that he sent enough of them for her to know that.

When he retreated as smoothly as he could, he was conflicted by two things. He was glad to have a special place in May's mind when she thought about receiving roses. Then he became concerned. If he didn't send her that rose, then who did? He knew he wasn't the only one that gave roses for a certain reason, but it hadn't officially occurred to him until now. May was traveling with three boys, two were non-familial and one of them close to her age, and that was just who she was traveling with. Who else had she met that gained romantic interest in her? And did any of them give gifts too? One person did. Who _else_?

Fortunately, he had calmed down enough before May introduced him to the rose-giving culprit, a girl named Brianna. Drew initially worried about potential competition. But after seeing Brianna's obvious infatuation for him, his worries faded. He became cocky enough to tease May about her silly mistakes. Then the embarrassment returned when May called him Mr. Rose, reminding him of his rose-giving tendencies, and Roselia more than happily concurred. He shook the new girl's hand and left, eager to go before more of his pride was whipped.

But seeing Brianna's adoration reminded him of the day he met May. He was much more subtle with his own infatuation, but what about May? Was it possible that she liked him back then too but was better at hiding it? What about now? Did she like him now, and he just couldn't see it? She didn't seem threatened when Brianna expressed interest in him. Drew grumbled to himself. How could he know how May felt about him? Things weren't this bad back in Hoenn. What was happening?

It wasn't until May's last contest before the Grand Festival did he realize he was much deeper than he was before. He had gained his five ribbons before his R and R in Chrysanthemum Island, but went all the way to Mulberry City weeks later just to make sure May did too. Fortunately so, or Harley would've succeeded in making her lose that contest. But, just as Solidad, another rival and close friend of his, had pointed out, his gestures went far beyond what a man with a crush would do. He wouldn't have done this in Hoenn last year. He had _liked_ liked May, yes, but not enough to put aside precious hours of training to pursue her. No, he didn't have a crush anymore. He had something _much_ more serious.

So when May reunited with her friends after winning her fifth ribbon, he stood awkwardly on the sidelines staring at her until she noticed him. He tried to focus on their rivalry by bringing up the Grand Festival. But he was speaking to her in yet _another_ sunset. The sun was coating her in an orange-yellow light that made her look angelic. But he wasn't enamored by just her sparkling sapphire eyes and gentle, melodic voice. He was also happy that she was happy and wanted to spend much of his time keeping that smile on her face. When he pictured his goals, he didn't just see himself being the top coordinator. He saw himself being at the top of the world...with her.

May had only said one sentence before he abruptly left the scene.

~.~

Drew thought he would never hold on for love. It sounded desperate. He might be a determined man, but nothing would ever bring him down to his knees.

But it had officially been two years since he had met May, with the third year starting in Johto. Drew didn't know how he was able to keep his cool when he had met her. Then again, he didn't know how he started losing it either. It was like his body grew uncomfortable with their circumstances and prepared for changes he clearly wasn't prepared for. But May, being the little surprise that she was, calmed him down with the same degree of skill she had to drive him crazy. It was like he was drowning and breathing fine at the same time. How was he to react?

For a while, he didn't react much at all. He barely saw May when they competed in Johto, and when he did see her, he kept his distance. Solidad had scolded him for his actions, but he couldn't help it. As she had confirmed recently, he was in love with May. And that...was scary.

But he didn't know what was scarier, what he felt when May was around or what he felt when she wasn't. May had left to Sinnoh to compete in the Wallace Cup but didn't come back. Nobody knew why. Well, nobody except her family, who was suspiciously secretive about the answer.

Drew decided to take advantage of May's disappearance to focus on Johto's Grand Festival. He gained five ribbons faster than he had anticipated and trained in Blackthorn City, where the Grand Festival was going to take place. He had waited for May to show up then, but she hadn't. When he won the ribbon cup, she wasn't in the audience cheering for him. He learned what it was like to live without her. Then got sick of it.

Drew booked the earliest flight to Petalburg City and headed back to Hoenn. He didn't care what time it was; he was going to the gym and demand to see May. It was about 8 p.m. when he spotted the gym leader and May's father, Norman, enter the doors of a large hospital. His eyes were wide as saucers as he followed the man inside. He didn't mean to get caught, but the receptionist just had to greet him.

"Oh?" Norman narrowed his eyes in recognition. "You're...Drew. May's friend, correct?"

Drew gave him a stiff nod and approached him. "Yes," he confirmed. "I haven't seen May in a while. Do you know where she is?"

The older man frowned. Drew guessed the gym leader's words wouldn't be ones he'd like to hear. But then the man paused and tilted his head to the right, and Drew realized he was speaking through a phone. The gym leader exchanged stern words with his speaker. Then, after a brief pause and a sigh, jerked his head to a hallway.

"Follow me," he said.

Drew stumbled and followed him into the passage. Why was Norman leading him inside the hospital? May couldn't be here...could she?

Oh, but she was. Apparently, the brunette had a condition that haunted her before her journey in Johto even started. It wasn't terminal but would confine her to a hospital bed for a long time. Drew was almost as pale as she was.

Anger rushed through Drew's body as the two were allowed to be alone. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" he hissed.

"I didn't want to worry you guys," May answered quietly. "Especially you, Drew. You've gotten so strong; I thought you'd win the Grand Festival for sure."

Drew grunted. Why was she conceding the victory to him? It wasn't like May at all. She wasn't filled with hope and joy as she was when he first fell for her. She was slower, sadder, and almost...accepting.

"Damn it, May," Drew clutched the railing until his knuckles turned white. "Just...tell me you're going to get out of this."

"I will," May assured. "It's just going to take a while."

That relieved Drew somewhat, but his blood still boiled. He was angry at so many things. Angry at May's illness for threatening her life, May for hiding it from him, and himself for allowing his fear to distance him from her. What if he had come later than he did? May's illness might not be that serious, but what could've happened if it was? Would he still see her face? Would he still hear her voice?

"I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner," Drew said, only half-thinking about his words now, "I...I'm sorry."

"You're here now," he then heard her say, prompting him to look up. "Will you hold me?"

She slowly raised a hand for him to take. Not with fear nor bravery but with courage, Drew took it and pressed it against his eye. He promised many things that night. One, he would tell her that he loved her. Two, that he would spend as much time as he could proving it. May deserved many things, the truth being one of them.

But now that she had fallen asleep, hopefully lulled by the comfort he had provided, he would do as she had asked and hold her.

~.~

Drew never thought he would let go for love. Pity and scoff at those who didn't have the strength to keep going. He would never be one of them.

But when Drew woke up the next morning from a hotel room he had rented the other night, he dashed back into the hospital, inside May's room, and pulled the slowly awakening girl into his arms. He told her he loved her and that she had his heart since he saw her with those silly frisbees. He didn't know what had come over him. But May, the master of surprises, was outdone that day. Drew would've been proud of himself if he wasn't so anxious.

But then, "Are...you sure?" May asked.

"Of course, I'm sure," Drew pulled away, his eyes narrowing. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because I'm in the hospital," May slyly shrugged. "It's a little cliche to proclaim your love when someone is sick."

Drew huffed and grasped her hand. That wasn't the answer he wanted. His confession took a lot out of him! But his feelings for May had been changing, so he couldn't blame the brunette for wondering where they would take them. He had been wondering that himself for years.

So maybe they should do the talking this time.

"You've...been driving me crazy for _years_!" was what came out of his mouth. "So excuse me if just the idea of you...not, made me snap."

He didn't know what he would get from that. A witty remark? A slap on the cheek?

How about laughter?

Fortunately for Drew and his pants, it wasn't sarcastic nor derogatory. It was light and giddy as if the truth in his words brought her joy and relief. Drew smiled from ear to ear. She understood...and approved!

"Th-Thank you, Drew," May giggled, wiping a tear from her eye. Her laughter had tired her somewhat, but her eyes were filled with life. "You...drive me crazy too."

Everything in Drew's body went still. He could've taken the statement as many interpretations, particularly a taunt. But he understood her, just like she had understood him, and his heart soared. There was a chance. There was hope.

And most importantly, there was love.


End file.
